The Night After
by Ryan Stoppable
Summary: Last night, everything changed for the inhabitants of the Fix-It Felix, Jr. and Sugar Rush games at Litwak's Arcade. Tonight, Ralph and Vanellope get their first crack at the new normal. Please read & review!
1. When I Can See You Again

**Disclaimer: "Wreck-It Ralph" and all related characters, imagery, future console adaptations of Sugar Rush Speedway which are hopefully in development ****_right now_****, etc. are property of Disney. All third-party characters are property of their respective copyright holders.**

* * *

**"The Night After"**

_Chapter One: When I Can See You Again_

"Quittin' time!"

Even 30 years after they had first been plugged in at Litwak's Arcade, those two simple words were enough to bring smiles to the faces of each and every occupant of Niceland, currently milling around in front of their centerpiece apartment building. On this night, however, they held special significance, as their game had come perilously close to being unplugged mere hours earlier; and doubly so for Wreck-It Ralph, who had also seen his life flash before his eyes in a pool of molten Diet Cola minutes before that.

"Nice job out there today, Ralph," continued Fix-It Felix, Jr., the one person in his game Ralph considered a friend (although he hoped to increase that number going forward).

"Same to you, Felix – you were really fixing up a storm out there!" responded Ralph.

"Well, I had some good players today."

"Nice job?" interjected Gene, suddenly adding himself to the conversation. "Did you _see_ him up there? We're trying to throw him off the building, and he's smiling and waving at the screen!"

"I'm right here, Gene," deadpanned Ralph.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself? You're gonna get us unplugged!" Gene shot an intense glare at the bigger man. "Again!"

Ralph locked his gaze on his smaller, but before he could respond, Felix stepped between the two men in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "We won't get unplugged. And I can probably guess who Ralph was waving at," he said, turning towards Ralph, "and I bet she'd love it if you paid her a visit."

"Don't we need to get together and talk about what happened last night?" asked Ralph, gesturing at the Nicelanders as he did.

"Aw, I can handle that. I'm just gonna take it easy tonight anyways. Besides, my lady would be _very_ disappointed if I wasn't here to see her."

"Your...lady?" asked Gene.

"Yeah," responded Felix, "while we were out last night, I met the most dynamite gal..." Felix trailed off into his thoughts, his face taking the complexion that he had described as 'the honeyglow'. Knowing that his brother would have some more explaining to do, Ralph decided this was his cue to head for more colorful pastures and excused himself.

The big man climbed into the train for the short, uneventful ride, made even more so since Ralph had the entire train to himself. Shortly thereafter, the bright lights of Game Central Station flickered into view, and Ralph got out. Characters of every stripe could be seen filing into the station from every door, and following the prior night's big hullabaloo, Ralph noted a crowd starting to gather around the entrance to Sugar Rush.

However, he had more pressing matters to attend to as Surge Protector materialized directly in front of him. "Name?"

"Really?" Ralph stopped, and decided he wasn't in the mood to argue tonight. "Sorry. Wreck-It Ralph, from the game Fix-It Felix Jr."

"Anything to declare?"

"Nope, no Cybugs with me tonight," responded Ralph with a smile.

"That's nothing to laugh about, Ralph," scolded Surge, "you could have put the entire arcade out of business!"

"Just between you and me: Hero's Duty," said Ralph, jabbing a finger towards the new game's portal to his left, "during gameplay hours...that scared me." It was Surge Protector's turn to chuckle now; big, bad Wreck-It Ralph, the guy who can punch through entire buildings in a single shot, _scared_? But suddenly, one of the knights from _Joust_ caught Surge's eye.

"Gotta go, proceed," he finished, dematerializing just as suddenly as he had appeared.

Ralph continued on into Game Central Station, noting that he was receiving more varied reactions from the arcade populace. There were still people that just considered him to be a Bad Guy; those were the ones that could safely be ignored. Some were specifically angry at him because of his game-jumping exploits that had in fact threatened the entire arcade; Ralph hoped that in time, they would be able to give him a chance. Finally, others had heard how Ralph was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save Sugar Rush from destruction. Those were the ones who Ralph would try to become friends with at first.

But right now, there was only one friend on Ralph's mind, and the mere thought of that friend put a big smile on Ralph's face as he crossed the station towards Sugar Rush.

* * *

Ralph felt the sweetly-scented air as he looked up at a newly-installed sign in the shape of a starting gate. Written across two lines, it said _Welcome to Sugar Rush – The Sweetest Place In The Arcade!_ Noting that it had not been there in the morning, he stopped and turning towards the tapping of a microphone.

"Great job out there everybody!" announced a voice, which he immediately recognized as that of Vanellope Von Schweetz. "Now, before we get started, I would just like to personally assure you that there will _not_ be any evil monsters attacking us during the race tonight. Hit it, Sour Bill!"

Craning his neck towards the starting line, Ralph could see Vanellope run down the stairs and hop into her kart – _their_ kart, thought Ralph, grinning as he thought back to the previous night.

"Let the Random Roster Race commence," announced Sour Bill, causing the crowd to roar in approval. A few seconds later, they were drowned out by upbeat music as fifteen karts sped off into the distance. Keeping his eyes on the action, Ralph made his way down to the long row of bleachers by the start/finish line and wedged himself into a gap between two sections. Hearing a gasp to his left, Ralph turned his head.

"Oh no, it's that big wrecking guy! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" yelled a fan over the din of the crowd.

"Settle down, I'm not here to wreck anything, I just came to cheer on my friend," responded Ralph calmly. Realizing what he had just said, the big guy couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Look, here they come!" shouted another excited fan. The crowd turned to the right as one, noticing the first few karts turning onto the home stretch. Ralph specifically noticed Vanellope, who appeared to be in second place behind a girl clad in pink, and ahead of a boy with a pumpkin on his head and a girl wearing a pink winter hat. They came to the final set of item boxes.

Taffyta Muttonfudge smirked as she received her item selection. "Time to finish this," she muttered. Glancing in her rearview mirror, she fired a Sweet Seeker missile behind her

"Come on, come on, come on," urged Vanellope Von Schweetz, awaiting her item selection, and focusing just in case. Seeing Taffyta's incoming projectile, she pounded the item button, causing her to flicker forward just before the weapon hit her – and past her rival into the lead! Vanellope's fan section roared in approval as she had nothing but open track in front of her.

"Bring it home, kid!" urged Ralph

Unfortunately for Vanellope, her joy was short-lived as she felt a second Sweet Seeker slam into the back of her kart (and saw a third drift harmlessly by).

"Stay sweet!" shouted Taffyta as she reclaimed the lead. Vanellope could only blow a raspberry in her direction and shift her kart into gear, finishing in 3rd place behind Nougetsia Brumblestain as well

Ralph waited patiently as Vanellope accepted her bronze trophy, waving to the crowd in the process, and climbed up into her section of fans to exchange thanks and congratulations (and plenty of fist bumps, he noted) with the NPCs. Finally, she turned and saw one more gigantic fist waiting, one that could only belong to one person.

"Stinkbrain!" shouted Vanellope, running over to fistbump the big man before climbing onto his shoulders.

"So how was your first day on the roster, Your Highness?"

"It was fi-" began Vanellope, suddenly realizing what he had said. "Hey, I'm a _President_ now!"

"I happen to know," teased Ralph, "that Sugar Rush didn't have a constitutional convention while the arcade was open. Besides, Presidents don't live in castle," he said, jabbing a finger towards the castle perched atop Royal Hill.

"That's _clearly_ an executive mansion, Sergeant Smellybreath. Anyways," said Vanellope, quickly changing the subject, "didja see me out there? Didja? I almost _won_!"

"Well, you still qualified for the roster, didn't you?"

"Gah-_doy_," she responded. "But I wanted to win!"

"Then you should have done that glitchy thing again," advised Ralph.

"But I couldn't." Sensing that Ralph could use an explanation, she continued. "Sourpuss told me earlier that teleporting was supposed to be my kart's special ability all along, but when..." Vanellope paused, not wanting to mention _his_ accursed name. "But when my code got messed up, _I_ got the ability to do it myself."

"Cool!" said Ralph.

"I know, right? Apparently, now that I can control it, I'd be 'overpowered' and 'broken' if I could teleport whenever I wanted," she continued, making air quotes as she did, "so he went and reprogrammed my kart to only let me do that as my special ability. Outside of the races, though-" Vanellope flickered out of existence and reappeared behind Ralph. "I can do it whenever I want!" Ralph spun around just in time to see his little friend flicker away once again. "See?"

"Yep," said Ralph, "I think I got it."

"So, Ralph, wanna see my cast-" Noticing Ralph's smirk, Vanellope quickly changed the word. "-executive mansion that _isn't a castle_?" The President grinned as if nothing was wrong.

"Actually," he responded, "we're going to have to end up back here anyways, so why don't I show you around Game Central Station first?"

"Alright!" Vanellope took off running towards the portal, surprising the big man. "Come on, Admiral Underpants, let's _go_!"

_End of Chapter_


	2. Out and About

_Chapter Two: Out and About_

Vanellope pointed up at the sign near the Sugar Rush entrance. On this side, it read _To Game Central Station – When Can We See You Again?_ "Like it? I had some of the NPCs put that up today," she commented.

"Well," remarked Ralph, "here we are." He gestured towards the portal. "The invisible wall that, for fifteen years, has marked the very edge of your existence. But for no longer. Now, it marks the beginning-"

"Coming, Stinky?" Glancing down, Ralph noticed that his little buddy wasn't at his side anymore; in fact, she had already passed through the barrier and was sticking her tongue out at Ralph.

"What, you didn't like my dramatic monologue?"

"It's just an invisible wall, Ralph," retorted Vanellope, trying to hold back a giggle and failing. Once she recomposed herself, Vanellope skipped off towards the bustling station, with Ralph close behind. Getting close to the light at the other end of the tunnel, the President suddenly stopped.

"Ugh, I can't see _anything_ over these _people_," she groaned. Without a word, Ralph lifted her up, gently placing her on his shoulder.

"Is that better, Your Shortness?" Ralph looked up to see Vanellope nodding in agreement (and rolling her eyes at him).

For the first time in her 15 years of existence, Vanellope Von Schweetz was able to behold the splendor and majesty of Game Central Station for herself. Characters of every size and every type milling about; there must be _thousands_ of them. Across from her and Ralph, a long row of portals just like the one they had exited from, with another long row behind them, and she knew that an entire world lay hidden behind each one. Ralph paused, allowing the little girl to take everything in. "Wow," was all she could manage to say.

Finally, Ralph decided to move once again, stepping towards the congregated group, but that was when Surge Protector materialized in front of them.

"Name?"

"I just told you-" started Ralph.

"No, not you, Ralph, the little one," interrupted Surge. Vanellope waved at him.

"Vanellope! Vanellope Von Schweetz," she said enthusiastically.

"And what game are you from?"

"Sugar Rush!" Vanellope pointed at the glowing sign behind her. "Gah-_doy_."

"Well excuuuuuuuuuse me, I've never seen you before," drawled Surge.

"It's...a long story," interjected Ralph, "but I shouldn't really keep _royalty_ waiting." Vanellope drew the big guy's attention and scowled at him. Ralph merely grinned in response. "Look, come find me when I'm heading back home, and I'll be glad to explain." _And I know he will_, Ralph thought.

"Okay, proceed," said Surge, dematerializing back to his watch post. That's exactly what Ralph and Vanellope did, joining the group congregated farther in – the Pac-Man ghosts, a few Toads, Zombie and M. Bison from the Bad-Anon meeting, and a small number of assorted NPCs.

"Ralph, it's good to see you're okay after...what happened last night," said Clyde. "And who do you have here with you?"

"I'm President Vanellope Von Schweetz from Sugar Rush! And...you are?" Ralph glanced at Vanellope in shock – she didn't know about Pac-Man? And then he remembered that she actually wouldn't, as this was her first time outside of Sugar Rush. Ralph quickly withdrew his glare.

"Clyde, from Pac-Man, and these are my colleagues Inky, Blinky, and Pinky," he responded, gesturing towards his fellow ghosts in the process. "Nice to meet you."

Ralph continued to converse with the other characters, but his friend's patience ran out much more quickly.

"This is sooooo boring!" whined Vanellope. Noticing this, Ralph quickly excused himself from his conversations.

"Sorry guys, the Princess demands my presence," explained Ralph.

"Ralph, would you cut it with the Princess talk? I told you, I'm a _President_ now!" she retorted.

"And I told _you_ that I don't care," replied Ralph with a smirk, causing his buddy to stick her tongue out at him. Noticing something on the schedule board, he picked Vanellope up and took off running towards the portal to Tapper's. Setting the girl down in an empty seat, Ralph climbed around the train, plopping down next to her.

"Say, Ralph," started Vanellope, "why do all of the _other_ games have trains and mine doesn't?"

"I can't say for sure," he replied, "I never really gave Sugar Rush a second thought until that spaceship decided I should. I would guess, though, that the...er...previous ruler had it taken out to discourage people from visiting."

"Then you need to get Felix over here to fix it!"

"There isn't anything there _to_ fix, kid," responded Ralph. "It'll need to be a new one." Suddenly struck by inspiration, Ralph smiled and continued. "And I know just the people you should talk to about that. Remind me to tell you if I forget."

* * *

Ever since the machine was installed back in 1983, Tapper's had been a favorite nighttime hangout for the Litwak's populace, and this night was no exception. Locating a pair of empty stools along one of the bars, Ralph helped Vanellope up onto one before plopping down on the other. Noticing their arrival, the bartender scooted over to them.

"Good evening, Wreck-It Ralph. What can I get you tonight?" Suddenly, he noticed the top of Vanellope's head peeking over the bar as well. "And how about you, miss?"

"Two root beers, please, and do you have anything taller for her to sit on?" asked Ralph, gesturing towards his little buddy.

Mr. Tapper walked around the bar and fiddled with Vanellope's stool, causing Ralph to lift her up as the stool extended to be almost as tall as the bar itself. Signaling for his guests to wait, he clipped over to the tap, quickly filled two glasses, dropped a straw in the latter one and expertly slid them to a stop in front of Ralph and a grinning Vanellope. Seeing a glass threatening to hit the floor a couple rows over, the bartender clipped away just as quickly as he had appeared.

Ralph quickly picked up his glass and began to down it, but Vanellope was not so lucky. Even with her newly-adjusted stool, she was still unable to reach her straw. Shrugging, she hopped up onto the bar with an exaggerated groan and began to drink her root beer – nothing was going to bring her down on this night.

Suddenly, Ralph heard a voice behind him. "Hey Ralph! Good to see you alright. You got _girlfriend_ now?"

Taken aback by the question, the big man looked around, trying to figure out who Zangief was referring to, and then saw who he was looking at – Vanellope?! Ralph gestured towards his friend, causing the Russian to nod and confirm his guess.

"She's nine," stated Ralph.

"So?" asked Zangief.

Ralph wasted little time to respond to that. "NO, you moron," he shot back, slapping his oversized palm against his face. This drew a chuckle out of Vanellope, who finished sucking in root beer and turned towards the Russian. She immediately wished she hadn't. "EW! GROSS!" she shouted, quickly turning away and covering her eyes.

"And for the Creators' sake, could you put some clothes on?" deadpanned Ralph.

Zangief waved his arms, dismissing the complaint – after all, why did _he_ have to change after 20 years? Turning back around, Vanellope noticed all of the characters sitting around at the various bars and asked Ralph who they all were.

"Well, we've got Bill and Lance from _Contra_," said Ralph, pointing to the various characters as he named them, "Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, and Amy Rose...Kenny Masters, Ryu and Blanka – they're from _Street Fighter_, Zangief's game...there's a few football players from _NFL Blitz_...and Phineas from _Phineas and Ferb_ – well, one of them."

"As in, there's more than one?"

"Yep," affirmed Ralph. "If I recall right, there's two of him who are playable and others who are NPCs – said to be from different alternate dimensions of the game's universe. All nice, friendly people though – you and the other racers should go meet them." Ralph leaned in towards Vanellope and continued in a whisper. "Actually, you should invite them to come to Sugar Rush – I bet they'd have something cooked up for the entrance tunnel in 11 minutes flat!"

Having gone off on a tangent, Ralph had not mentioned the characters who next walked up to the merry twosome. "O&$%?" asked Q*Bert, flanked by his friends from his game.

"And there's Q*Bert and his crew," explained Ralph, raising his right hand in a salute to the group. Taking his cue, Vanellope turned and waved towards the arcade veterans.

"$#~&O."

"Is he trying to say something?" inquired Vanellope.

"He is." Anticipating the next question, he quickly continued. "But I don't know what he's saying." Vanellope buried her face in her hands, earning a dismissive eye roll from Ralph. "The Creators gave his game its own unique language – one that I wasn't programmed to know. Felix went and learned it a while back...but I never did. You know, I should probably get working on that."

"Yeah, for all you know, he could be calling you fat. And saying your breath stinks." Vanellope was going to continue, but Ralph shushed her and pointed at Q*Bert, who was nodding fervently to deny the allegations.

"Which it does," taunted the President with a huge smirk on her face. Ralph quickly spun his stool around – nearly kicking Coily accidentally in the process – lifted his gigantic right fist above his head, and slammed it down into his left hand. Nonetheless, Vanellope flinched herself right off of her stool, glitching into a safe landing on the ground nearby with a triumphant "Ta-da!" and a bow.

"Not bad," affirmed Ralph, now smiling as well as he lifted Vanellope back up onto her stool. The Q*Bert characters shuffled away, allowing the friends to return their attention to their root beers and each other – with everything having happened so fast over the past day, it was good to have a minute to settle down. They were interrupted from their conversation when Mr. Tapper sidled up across from them.

"So, Ralph, did you ever get your medal?"

_End of Chapter_


End file.
